1997 Lincoln Town Car problems
Owners have filed 395 complaints with NHTSA about the 1997 Lincoln Town Car. Engine is the most reported problem area, at 22% of complaints. After that come suspension (15%) and brakes (13%).
At a glance
- Complaints
- 395 filed with NHTSA
- Most reported
- Engine 22% of complaints
- Crashes and fires
- 14 and 6
- Injuries and deaths
- 14 and 0
- Typical mileage
- 91,000 miles 149 complaints with mileage
Source: NHTSA owner complaints
Where the complaints are
Share of this model year's complaints by the part of the car involved. One complaint can name more than one part, so the shares can add up to more than 100%.
When problems show up
View the numbers
| Mileage | Complaints |
|---|---|
| 0k to 20k miles | 3 |
| 20k to 40k miles | 3 |
| 40k to 60k miles | 15 |
| 60k to 80k miles | 25 |
| 80k to 100k miles | 41 |
| 100k to 120k miles | 27 |
| 120k to 140k miles | 20 |
| 140k to 160k miles | 10 |
| 160k to 180k miles | 2 |
| 180k to 200k miles | 1 |
| 200k+ miles | 2 |
What the data shows
Among the 149 complaints that report mileage, the typical (median) problem appeared at about 91,000 miles. For engine specifically, the median reported mileage is about 90,000 miles (58 complaints with mileage).
Safety-related details: 14 complaints mention a crash; 6 complaints mention a fire; 14 injuries reported.
Looking only at complaints filed within five years of the model year (so older and newer years are comparable), the 1997 ranks 1st most-complained-about out of 19 model years of the Lincoln Town Car with enough data (156 complaints in that window). It is also covered by 6 safety recall campaigns.
What owners wrote
A few complaints as filed, shortened and with personal details removed. The first ones are among the most serious reports for this model year; the rest are typical.
ABS system failed causing vehicle to spin out and tire blowout, loss of control resulting in accident ( no deployment of air bags during collision and seat belts did not restraint properly), injuries due to defects. Yh
Vehicle would stalled intermittently without warning while driving. Vehicle was taken to the dealer who determined that the intake manifold was cracked and caused coolant to leak and flood the alternator.
Failure of cruise control to kick down after reaching desired speed and to kick back in when going below desired speed. Also if cruise control is not turned off before turning engine off it will continue to draw current and run battery down. This has not caused any accidents yet but has caused two close calls. I stopped using the cruise control until it is fixed.